KI DOJO
your dojo since1978
(Ass.P.D.Ki Dojo) viale corsica 3/r - via gordigiani int. 20/m
Articles and Interviews
Tango outside of Argentina 5:
Egyptian and Algerian Tango: Farid and Amal (Asmahan) El Atrache and Lili Boniche
Farid El Atrache (1914-1974) and Amal El Atrache Asmahan (1918-1944)
Farid El Atrache and his sister Amal El Atrache, known as Asmahan, were born in a distinguished royal Syrian Druze family that was active in the political struggle to free Syria from French rule after World War I. On the death of their father in 1924, the family emigrated to Egypt leaving
their home in Lebanon. In order to make ends meet the mother sang at family celebrations and clubs where the ³oud², or Arabic lute, was played.
Farid's musical talents were apparent from the start. After receiving a classical musical training at the Conservatory of Cairo, he performed with his younger sister who was a gifted singer and they pursued their musical careers together. Together with her brother, who himself was renowned for his passionate singing, and as a master of the oud, Asmahan became a legend, dominating Arabic singing in the thirties. Their careers were also dramatically enhanced by their work in films where Farid achieved recognition both as a composer and an arranger. He was skilled in introducing Flamenco and Tango themes into otherwise classical Arabian music, while Asmahan, in her singing, adopted western techniques without diminishing the oriental nature of what she sang, or otherwise alienating her Arab following. Farid and Asmahan's immensely innovative and popular way of working with each other musically was brought to an end very tragically with Asmahan's sudden death in a car accident in 1944. At the time conspiracy theories abounded as to the secret agent who might have been responsible for her death.
Farid, who was now forced to pursue his career alone was renowned for his melancholic style of singing and became known as the "sad singer". In addition to his accomplishments as a musician, conductor, and composer, his acting also brought him great acclaim. Through his performances in a
seemingly endless series of romantic films he was destined to break female hearts throughout the Arab world. His friends however, were of the opinion that no women had ever succeeded in removing the emptiness he continued to feel after the loss of his sister.
At the end of the 60’s Farid went back to Lebanon, where he opened a famous nightclub. Unfortunately, with the beginning of the Lebanese war and his bad gambling habits he lost all his fortunes, but he remained in Lebanon until his death in 1974.
Follow me now to Algeria to learn about another famous tango singer, who
played the oud - the “bandoneon” of the Arabian tango.
Lili Boniche (1921)
Lili Boniche was born in 1921 in a family of Andalusian origin, in the Kashbah of Algiers. When he was only 10 years old he left his family to be trained in the art of playing the oud, or Arabian lute. His teacher was a master of Haouzi, a regional style of Arabo-Andalusian music.
By the age of 15 he had made his musical début on Algerian radio. As he developed further he gradually moved away from classical Arabian music as he was strongly attracted to 40s nightclub styles (typical at that time in regions in the south and east Mediterranean): jazz, flamenco, mambo and rumba were all featured, together with the "established" dances such as tango and paso doble, and were brought together with the Algerian song tradition of the "Chaâbi" in a swinging and sensuous mixture that enjoyed great popularity.
In bringing this rich mixture of cultural styles into a further synthesis with his own cultural origins Lili Boniche gradually developed a style of his own, which he called "Francarbe". This was an elegant and self-confident form of popular music, that could well be termed "world music", had this term then existed!
As a protagonist of Francarbe in the late 40s and 50s, Lili Boniche made a career for himself; first in Algeria and later in Paris where his first recordings were made. By the 90s, the term "world music" was now in place, and he made a comeback with his album "Alger, Alger", produced by Bill
Laswell. Also in concerts, with the help of electric guitar and amplification, he attempted to rescue from oblivion the charm and elegance of this music of a by-gone era.
We would like to thank Uli Schumann (Links) for his kind permission for the use of this material.
